Pain of Salvation will play in Finland for the first time in ten years, at Ankea Festival in Tampere on 18 and 19 June 2027. They are one of seven acts the festival added in a single announcement.
The gap is the story. The Swedish band have played live only occasionally in recent years and their last studio album came out in 2020, which makes any confirmed date a thing their audience plans around rather than assumes. A decade without a Finnish show is a long absence for a band from the next country over.
The rest of the batch leans the same way. Plini brings his instrumental progressive rock and metal back to Tampere for a second time, having played Tavastia and Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki before. Einar Solberg returns a year after appearing with Leprous, this time on his own, with material from Vox Occulta.
The German post metal band Heretoir are also on it, alongside Slow Crush, Sara and Noiduin. Seven names at once, eight months out, is a festival telling its audience the weekend is worth booking travel for.